U.K. Is Warming Faster Than Global Average, LSE Study Shows

By Alex Morales -
Oct 17, 2013

The U.K. is warming faster than the
global average, adding urgency to its efforts to slash
greenhouse gases.

The average annual temperature in the U.K. rose at a rate
of 0.18 degree Celsius (0.32 degree Fahrenheit) per decade from
1950 through 2012, according to a paper e-mailed today by the
London School of Economics. That’s 1 1/2 times the global
average rate of increase of 0.12 degree per decade.

Britain aims to cut carbon emissions by 34 percent for the
30 years through 2020 as part of its contribution to global
efforts to rein in temperatures. United Nations envoys are
striving to agree on a treaty by 2015 to contain emissions
worldwide and help limit global warming to 2 degrees.

A study last week led by the University of Hawaii at Manoa
found that from 2056 onwards, even the coolest year in London
will be warmer than any year from 1860 through 2005, a
phenomenon the researchers termed “climate departure.” They
said that while the size of temperature changes rises toward the
poles, the tropics will face climate departure earlier because
they have a smaller historical range of temperatures.

Today’s paper comes from LSE’s Grantham Research Institute
on Climate Change and the Environment and the Centre for Climate
Change Economics and Policy, a collaboration between LSE and the
University of Leeds that’s sponsored by the government-funded
Economic and Social Research Council.